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Research Experience

Miss van Riper's professional interests are centered on the use and preservation of natural resources, parks and protected area management, and conservation policy. She has supported this long-term goal through involvement in both biological and social science research positions.

For one year, Carena worked in the School of Community Resources and Development research lab at Arizona State University. She assisted with social science research in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, AZ, Yosemite National Park, CA, and the Mollala River Recreation Corridor, OR. During this time, she also instructed a service learning course for undergraduate students at Arizona State University. Carena worked for one year as a bilingual interviewer researching ethnic identification among Hispanic families in Central Phoenix, worked in Glacier National Park for the US Geological Survey collecting grizzly bear hair samples, interned for the Student Conservation Association to identify suitable lynx habitat and monitor peregrine falcon nest-sites, fought wild land forest fires in Washington for the US Forest Service, and worked as a chimpanzee caregiver at a primate behavioral research center. 

NORTHERN FOREST RESEARCH

Carena's graduate work will determine how recreationists perceive social, ecological, and managerial conditions on three mountain summits in the northeastern, US. Carena and her colleagues in the Park Studies Laboratory are administering 1,200 questionnaires to measure the relative importance of impacts to the visitor experience. Their survey instrument uses a technique known as stated choice modeling, depicted entirely through visual simulation methods (please bottom of page), to measure the inherent tradeoffs made in evaluations of recreation experiences.

A recent article in the local newspaper highlighted the research taking place at one of Carena's study sites. Please see the following URL for details: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200808210415/NEWS02/80821001

Please also see a recent web write-up from a 2008 survey respondent: http://alavigne.net/Outdoors/ImageGallery/2008/08-31-PorterCascade

GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

In summer 2007, Carena worked as a social science researcher in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, CA. She administered surveys for her current advisor, Dr. Robert E. Manning with the University of Vermont, and work closely with National Park Service managers at three study sites. Dr. Manning's research included a carrying capacity study at Alcatraz Island National Park, a soundscape study at Muir Woods National Monument, and a general visitor use study in San Mateo County.  

MOLLALA RIVER RECREATION AREA VISITOR STUDY, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Some level of biophysical and social impact is an inevitable consequence of recreation related impacts. How do these impacts affect our experiences in the outdoors and to what degree do we perceive impacts to be a problem? Some say that visitors are negatively affected by such impacts, while others argue that impacts do not diminish the visitor experience. This thesis was explored at a highly impacted recreation site known as the Mollala River National Recreation Area. Miss van Riper assisted with this study through the School of Community Resources and Development Laboratory at Arizona State University. Dr. Dave White and Dr. Randy Virden were the co-principle investigators on this project and they involved Carena in the production of a refereed article, a technical research report for the BLM, and a presentation at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. More specifically, this research examined how experience-use history, place identity, and place dependence affected perceptions of impact through the use of confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. 

CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT VISITOR STUDY, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

This study was designed to examine visitor experiences at a cultural park located on Navajo Tribal Trust Land. Dr. Dave White was the principal investigator, and Carena carved out a subset of his research for her senior thesis at Arizona State. She distributed an identical visitor questionnaire to park managers, and asked respondents to predict the responses of their visitors. She then conducted semi-structured interviews with the staff to better understand the similarities and differences of perceptions. Her overall contributions to this project included data collection, assisting with a technical report, and presenting their findings at the park and at a national conference. In addition, Miss van Riper assisted with the production of two manuscripts from these data. The first was a comparison of managers' and visitors' perceptions, and the second was an analysis of place attachment levels and authentic experiences.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK TRANSPORTATION STUDY, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

The National Park Service is faced with important decisions surrounding the implementation of alternative transportation systems in our National Park system. To address this concern, Dr. Dave White designed a study in Yosemite National Park to better understand visitors’ perceptions of alternative transportation, and to develop indicators and standards of quality. This project was two-fold, and Miss van Riper was involved with planning the initial portion of phase II. She traveled to Yosemite with several of her lab mates to meet with the recreation coordinator of the Park. They discussed both phases of this research and selected future sampling sites for the subsequent field season.

INTEREST IN MINORITIES OF THE UNITED STATES

The study of minorities has been an integral component of Miss van Riper’s practical and professional experiences. The research she was involved with at Canyon de Chelly NM for example, addressed visitor perceptions of a minority culture. Carena’s interest in Latin culture extends into work as a bilingual interviewer for the Geography Department at Arizona State. This project examined cultural identification issues among Hispanic families in an urban setting. In the Phoenix metropolitan area, Carena worked as a science instructor for an Arizona State service-learning program through the Global Institute of Sustainability. She facilitated an educational outreach program for Hispanic students at-risk of early high school dropout. Additionally, she interned for the same service-learning program tutoring Hispanic students on two different occasions. The aforementioned experiences have provided Miss van Riper with insight into the issues faced by minorities, and enable her to approach cross-cultural environmental issues in her future career with a personal and knowledgeable perspective.  

SAMPLE SURVEY INSTRUMENT FROM NORTHERN FOREST RESEARCH: